Teachers´ perceptions and enactment of the communicative classroom

Teachers´ perceptions and

enactment of the

communicative classroom

A qualitative study of four teachers´ attitudes towards

communicative language teaching at upper secondary

schools in Sweden.

Independant Degree Project

Author: Rebecca Valfridsson Supervisor Charlotte Hommerberg Examiner: Ibolya Maricic

Abstract

The Swedish syllabus for English promotes a communicative approach to language teaching, but does not offer concrete guidelines regarding how a communicative classroom should be enacted. This leaves a great deal of interpretation up to each individual teacher. The purpose of this study is to observe and understand how teachers at upper secondary schools in Sweden perceive and enact the communitive guidelines stipulated by the syllabus for English. This qualitative study is based on classroom observations combined with semi-structured interviews with four teachers of English at upper secondary schools in Sweden. The findings reveal that the teachers use a range of

strategies when enacting their communicative classroom. However, the most significant finding is that there is considerable focus on meaning rather than form across all of the four participants. This suggests that the teachers perceive communicative language teaching largely in terms of a natural approach, where the learning of form happens by itself as long as the target language is used in an anxiety-free classroom environment. Furthermore, corrective feedback on language form is perceived as potentially harmful for the pupils’ willingness to communicate in English, and hence it is largely avoided. Since the latest research in the field of communicative language teaching has restored the significance of form, there is a need for teachers of English to develop strategies that are a hybrid of both meaning- and form-focused activities in order to successfully accomplish all facets of communicative language teaching. The syllabus for English should offer clearer guidelines to support teachers in this endeavour.

Keywords

Second language acquisition, Communicative Language Teaching, The Principled Communicative Approach

Thanks

1 Introduction

Recent decades of language teaching have seen the rise of a communicative approach towards teaching a second language, and communicative language teaching has become the most widespread approach to teaching a second language in many countries,

encouraged by for instance the Common European Framework of reference for Languages which advocates a communicative perspective (Council of Europe 2001). The trend within the communicative approach is to achieve an authentic classroom setting, which encourages the pupil to use the language in different everyday situations, such as role play, debates and group work.

The word ´communicative´ has been implemented in the Swedish syllabus for English to make sure that pupils develop language in a meaningful way and in different authentic situations. The Swedish National Agency for Education (2011) stipulates in the syllabus for English that pupils taking English at upper secondary schools in Sweden should have the opportunity to develop their abilities in English to become communicatively competent. Communicative language teaching implies that the classroom setting provides opportunities to use the target language in different ways to mediate content and meaning and to prepare the pupil for how to use the language appropriately depending on different situations, such as expressing politeness, feelings or creating contacts. The fundamental beliefs about communicative language teaching derive from Krashen’s (1982) Natural Approach, which advocated a classroom free from a focus on form and where the authentic content was important. The theory stressed that language learning would take care of itself as long as the teaching was communicative. However, later theories of communicative language teaching encourage the integration of authentic communication with form-focused activities, where

accuracy and linguistic form are important (Arnold et al 2015:7-8).

Even thoughthe Swedish syllabus stipulates a communicative approach to language teaching, the guidelines for how to make the pupils communicatively competent are somewhat vague. During the period of the author´s teacher training it seemed that the teachers in today´s classroom understand the importance of the communicative classroom and are highly familiar with how the syllabus stresses the pupil´s communicative abilities. However, the absent guidelines in the syllabus leave it up to each municipality and teacher to create their own interpretation of the

teaching, further research is warranted in order to examine how teachers of English relate to communicative language teaching and what principles they apply in the classroom to improve the communicative ability of their pupils.

1.1 Aim and research questions

The aim of this study is to explore how four teachers of English at four different upper secondary schools in Sweden enact and comprehend communicative language teaching in the classroom. The following research questions are addressed:

1) How do the interviewed teachers of English work communicatively with their pupils in the classroom?

2) What are these teachers´ views on their communicative classroom?

It is important to mention that this study is limited to only a small number of teachers and classrooms and offers only a limited picture of how the communicative classroom is perceived and enacted by teachers.

2 Background

The Common European Framework (henceforth CEFR) describes four different abilities to develop and use language for communication reception, production, interaction and mediation (Council of Europe 2001). This common basis in language education is used as a guideline to develop language education throughout Europe. The syllabus in Sweden for English at upper secondary schools is inspired by the guidelines that were presented by the Common European Framework (Council of Europe 2001). The

National Agency of Education1 states that the pupils should have the ability to develop a communicative ability in the target language, meaning the ability to use language in a varied, clear and coherent way that is adapted to the aim, receiver and situation. For example, language education should offer the pupils the opportunity to develop their communicative skills with a clear focus on function. The communicative ability is to

create an understanding of how to use language appropriately in different situations (Skolverket 2011).

3 Communicative competence and communicative

language teaching

The term Communicative Language Teaching (henceforth CLT) originates from the 1970s and is based on the notion of communicative competence. CLT is an approach to teaching used to develop communicative competence

(Richards & Rogers 2001:159-160). This section first defines the notion of

communicative competence and second gives an overview of three influential models of teaching with a communicative approach.

3.1 Communicative competence

According to Hymes (1972), Communicative competence refers to the ability to understand the underlying codes in a language, for example politeness and differences between formal and informal language. The notion of communicative competence was at a later stage further developed and divided into four competence categories by Canale & Swain (1980) and their model is still influential today. These four competences are linguistic, sociolinguistic, strategic and discourse competence. Table 1 below gives an overview of the four dimensions of communicative competence as laid out by Canale & Swain (1980)

Figure 1: Adapted from Canale & Swain (1980) showing a summary of the four competences Linguistic

-Understanding words, spelling, grammar, punctuation

- -Understanding of how sentences are structured

Strategic - oral fluency

- adapting language depending on the audience and purpose

-strategies to use when communicative breakdowns occur

Sociolinguistic - Social rules such as politeness, -Cultural reference for example idioms and

expressions

Discourse

- Knowledge of how to understand texts and oral production

When mastering the four competences the pupil is communicatively competent and understands how to use the language appropriately.

3.2 Communicative language teaching

In order for pupils to achieve communicative competence, language teaching should be communicative. There is however no unified understanding of what CLT should be like. This section provides an overview of different perspectives on CLT in order to show the diversity between scholars in the field. Section 3.2.1 first introduces the Natural

Approach, section 3.2.2 outlines the Shallow-end CLT view and section 3.2.3 finally presents the Principled Communicative Approach.

3.2.1 The Natural Approach

Krashen and Terrell (1983) developed the Natural Approach based on the hypothesis that a language is acquired through understanding a message and receiving

comprehensible input. Moreover, language is learnt by what is heard and seen. Krashen (1982) states that pupils’ knowledge of the second language can be characterized in two different systems, known as the acquired and learnt systems. The acquired system is developed through receiving comprehensible input and understanding a message. The learned system is a process stimulated when the learner consciously learns a language through grammar rules and memorising different structures.

Acquisition begins when the pupil is exposed to comprehensible input, meaning exposure to written or oral language at a level just above the existing level of development. Krashen’s (1982) formula for this is i+1, meaning input + giving the learner the correct task at the present cognitive level. The level above the pupil´s existing level can be illustrated with pictures, body language and gestures to facilitate understanding. The i represents the language that the pupil comprehends and the +1 is the language that the pupil needs exposure to, language one step above the current level (Tingbjörn 1994; Lightbown and Spada 2013:106).

According to Krashen (1982) grammar can never become the central point in the language classroom as it is believed to limit communication. The focus on grammar rules can be highlighted if grammar is the focus of that specific lesson, for instance when preparing an oral presentation or a written assignment (Krashen & Terrell 1983). Krashen portrays the acquired and learnt system as dichotomies. The acquired system is a form of implicit learning where the pupil is exposed to the language in real-life communication without attention to any specific features, and the learnt system relies on explicit learning where the exposure to language is conscious and involves systematic attention to form.

Krashen argues that language success is due to acquisition before learning, since it is seen as a natural process. Pupils that are exposed to correct comprehensible input in a stress-free environment will attain the new language successfully. The ideas are compared to how a child attains their L1. Krashen´s thoughts have had a major influence on language teaching ideology, but ideas regarding how to implement them in the classroom have been divided (Thornbury 1999:19).

3.2.2 Shallow-end CLT

The major controversy concerned how to implement a focus on form such as

highlighting grammatical structures in a communicative classroom. Thornbury (1999) attempted to capture the different views of CLT into the deep- and shallow-end CLT model. Deep-end CLT refers to a view of language learning that is in agreement with Krashen, i.e. that language is acquired unconsciously through life-like communication. This section introduces Thornbury’s (1999) notion of shallow-end CLT (Thornbury 1999:19-23).

Furthermore, Thornbury stresses the importance of recognising the difference between spoken and written language. While spoken language allows more grammatical errors than written, the pupil needs to know the difference and develop an understanding of how the use of language differs in different situations. Language that is only acquired from a communicative perspective with no focus on grammar will reach a certain level in progress and fail to deliver in for example the perspective of appropriateness

(Thornbury 1999:15).

In the communicative classroom, the cooperation between form and meaning is important. Form-based teaching, as in grammar teaching, is further fortified when the pupil is encouraged to use the language in a meaningful way. Language knowledge is further developed by so-called noticing. The pupil´s grammatical knowledge is used in real-life communicative settings and the pupil notices different grammatical structures in the language production (Thornbury 1999:16).

The structures in language facilitate the lesson focus and the different grammar systems provide a structure to the lesson and the exercise. The different tenses in

language, such as the present continuous, the definite article or possessive pronouns, are all examples of different items that can be tested. The different communicative

functions in language such as asking for a favour or expressing regret are all examples of large and unruly tasks. The communicative functions are immense and hard to measure (Thornbury 1999:16).

The shallow-end version of CLT does not exclude grammar, but promotes that the pupil works communicatively with a task and then deals with the grammatical rules that emerge (Thornbury 1999:24). In short, pupils should be exposed to form-focused activities in combination with tasks that encourage some kind of consciousness-raising, meaning that the pupil is involved in some form of attention to grammatical form and accuracy. In the communicative classroom, Thornbury thus argues that accuracy is an important part of CLT (Thornbury 1999:25).

3.2.3 The Principled Communicative Approach

Research on how to combine implicit and explicit procedures has led to the development of The Principled Communicative Approach. This approach does not only rely on implicit procedures in the classroom, but has developed the idea of providing the pupils with some explicit scaffolding and form-focused instruction. The principled communicative approach is in agreement with the fundamental ideas of CLT, i.e. that meaningful communication is the key to successful learning. However, the approach elaborates on the importance of declarative input and atomisation. This section describes the main ideas of the principled communicative approach in more detail (Arnold et al. 2015:7-9).

Dörnyei (2009) proposes seven principles that are grounded in psycholinguistic research and designed to maximise learning in the CLT classroom: the personal significance, the declarative input, the controlled practice, the focus on form, the formulaic language, the language exposure and the focused interaction principle. In the following, a brief explanation of each of these different principles is given

(Dörnyei 2009:302).

The personal significance principle stresses the importance of providing and planning for a classroom with a content that the pupils can relate to. Dörnyei refers to this as student-centred learning, meaning that the pupil is the centre of the classroom and is in charge of their own learning. The teacher´s role is important in creating and preparing genuine material and exercises for the pupils to interact with other peers. Genuine learning is providing realness within the task and a content that the pupil can relate to (Arnold et al. 2015:13).

Second, the declarative input principle can be seen as the opposite of what Krashen proposed in the 1980s. In order to build up implicit (acquired) knowledge within a language the pupil needs to be exposed to explicit procedures, known as the learnt system, in order to comprehend and develop communicative skills. By

The controlled practice procedure builds on previous knowledge and stresses the importance of repetition and drilling. The procedure is compared to how a musician practices music, by playing the song repeatedly to master the piece of music. The drills in the classroom need to be motivating to encourage learning (Arnold et al. 2015:51).

The focus on form and the formulaic language- principle suggest that teaching form and structures that are focused on accuracy and appropriateness are vital to the development of a new language. Arnold et al. (2015:67) cite Ellis (2008) who stresses the thought of different feedback techniques in language teaching and highlights four macro-options for feedback: input-based, explicit options and corrective feedback options. The ideas of Ellis are a framework used in the focus on form principle. Within language teaching, the formulaic language principle moves on from focus on form to introducing formulaic language, such as expressions, idioms, collocations, and prepares the pupil for awareness-raising in the produced communicative language. The formulaic language is practiced and rehearsed through repetition and real-life communication.

Finally, the language exposure and the focused interaction principles can be seen as the results of how the teacher has built the lessons, by first implementing explicit preparation for the pupil to become communicatively fluent. The two final principles promote a large amount of second language input in the form of prepared activities and interaction with other peers. However, Dörnyei (2009:302) stresses how important preparing tasks that invite the pupils to genuine interaction with a focus on form and function is.

3.3 Summary of approaches to CLT

The three different approaches towards CLT presented in the previous section provide a complex picture of how CLT has been understood by different scholars in language teaching. The three approaches all agree on creating situations with authentic language input. However, Krashen argues that when discovering the pupil´s current level of development, the teacher can develop the pupil´s language by introducing the level that is just beyond the current level. What the current level is for each individual can be discussed further and Krashen´s description can be seen as somewhat vague.

demands some form of language focus such as focusing on form by introducing grammatical structures. If the pupil is never exposed to the foundations of how a language is built, language will reach a certain level and cease to develop. The pupils will be exposed to a deep-end CLT, where focus on form is left out. Dörnyei expresses the importance of building on the pupil´s previous knowledge and preparing the pupil for the classroom content. To build up implicit knowledge, the student needs to be exposed to explicit knowledge, the opposite to what Krashen stressed when he

presented the ideas of the acquired and learnt system. Dörnyei (2009) develops previous research within CLT and is in agreement with previous research regarding the

importance of creating a classroom with meaningful communication. However, Dörnyei (2009) claims that meaningful communication is not enough for the development of a second language. Declarative input in combination with automatization, lexical rules and lexical items are essential in a second language classroom (Dörnyei 2009:302).

In the syllabus for English at upper secondary level in Sweden, the

communicative approach is the method known to develop the pupil´s communicative abilities. The PCA promotes a parallel use of both implicit and explicit procedures in combination with clear guidelines of how to present and teach language content. Consequently, this paper advocates the PCA, since the approach highlights a meaning-focused approach in teaching, in combination with form, and is a useful manual for teachers to incorporate CLT in the classroom.

3.4 Previous research

The following section provides an overview of three different studies exploring both explicit and implicit procedures in the classroom. Previous investigations are used in this paper to provide an overview of recent research within the field of CLT and the beneficial outcomes of incorporating the PCA when teaching with a communicative approach. Studies within the field of CLT is broad and the number of studies

classroom. However, the three examples investigate the outcome of learning and the attitudes of the pupils, in contrast to this study that investigates the attitudes of the teachers. Furthermore, these studies are conducted in different cultural

environments than Sweden, which affect the outcome and outlining of the studies in for example syllabi. The different guidelines and cultural attitudes towards second language teaching is an aspect that is differently outlined in different countries due to cultural differences. However, the studies are still useful in this paper since the positive outcomes of the PCA are shown.

One example is Rushton´s (2019) study in a Japanese pre-intermediate level context. The aim of this study was to investigate how the PCA can be utilised when using textbooks when teaching a second language. The fundamental and cultural believes of a high resistance to speaking in a second language context is a dilemma in Japan. Therefore, the study investigates the possibility of incorporating the PCA within the Japanese context where the fundamental thoughts of teaching grammar are essential and the isolated communicative activities are a problem. The areas studied

closer were; vocabulary, grammar and the opportunities for listening and reading and the pupils were encouraged to plan an exercise and introduced to different speech acts such as: agreeing, disagreeing and suggesting. In the exercise the pupils were provided with helpful phrases related to the holiday topic, followed by reading

comprehension questions. The task was documented with a video recorder and exposed as a helpful aid for the pupils to notice and analyse the accuracy of the produced

language. The results suggested that the exercises influenced by the PCA through form-focused exercises, communicative activities and using techniques such as noticing offer a hybrid of both meaning and content. Furthermore, the PCA offers the ability to practice speaking and at the same time make communication meaningful. This was successful since the focus on grammar is extremely important in the Japanese context.

Another study is experimental and conducted by Kasumi (2015) at 10th grade in Kosovo. According to Kosovo´s curriculum for English, CLT has an important place in outlining the requirements for Kosovo´s pupils and the method is seen as useful in second language education regarding both pupils´ motivation and performance. A study was conducted with 150 pupils from two different areas in the country, rural and urban. This strengthens the study since the sample is large and the amount of data

different schools. Empirical research based on the four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking, gathered information that was used to compare the different skills and the pupils´ language abilities. According to the author, the challenge in using CLT is

implementing both implicit and explicit procedures, meaning that the issue is to

incorporate grammar by introducing the grammatical rule and at the same time give the pupils the opportunity to use the grammatical aspect communicatively. This resulted in two different group tasks; group one was taught with CLT and group two with methods such as the presentation, practice, procedure. Finally, the two groups’ knowledge was tested in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Furthermore, the results showed the important role of the teacher in the classroom. The teachers´ approach and teaching were significant for the pupils´ performance. In the results, the group being exposed to CLT rather other methods, performed a higher score in the tests, measuring the

performance of the four skills. The results of this study contribute to this paper, since it is similar to this paper by showing the perspective from the teachers and their views on communicative language teaching. The results from Kasumi´s study is therefore

important and contribute in the way of showing that the teachers´ approaches and methods in teaching are significant for the pupil´s results. This paper stresses the absence of clear guidelines in the syllabus and investigates the attitudes among the teachers. Therefore, Kasumi´s study contributes to this paper since the results show that clearer guidelines regarding how to implement communicative language teaching is highly relevant to provide an equal content within second language teaching . The interviews in this paper highlight the teachers´ attitudes regarding teaching and the role of the teacher is central.

fails at developing the student´s desired fluency. However, the principled approach introduced by Dörnyei (2009) attempts to develop both grammatical accuracy and fluency. Furthermore, the principled approach within CLT has not been tested enough to determine the beneficial outcomes of the approach. The study compares and analyses the two different methods to discover development in teaching and in the learning process. The controlled group received grammar without formal instruction at the beginning of the lesson. On the other hand, the students were still exposed to grammar communicatively and with significant input and feedback from the teacher. The results showed that the principled approach developed the student´s abilities in academic essay writing. The qualitative study was combined with a concluding survey to investigate the students´ perceptions regarding the different approaches they were exposed to. This strengthens the use of this study in this paper, since the survey is used to investigate the students‘ interpretations of the lessons. This can be compared to the same methods used in this paper where the interviews were used to investigate the teachers´ attitudes. The survey showed that the students´ expressed strengths regarding both the standard and principled approach when it comes to developing competences in academic writing. However, the controlled group expressed that the principled approach shows exactly what the student needs to comprehend in grammar and how to apply the knowledge in essay writing. Moreover, the controlled group stressed that the knowledge in grammar is provided before the actual writing begins. This in combination with the teacher´s role of providing an interesting content is beneficial.

All of the studies confront the dilemma of either using traditional or communicative language teaching, the aim of all of the studies are similar in

investigating whether the pupils´ results may improve their language skills if they are exposed to a student-centred communicative approach rather than isolated grammatical structures. The methods used to collect data are complemented differently with either a survey, questionnaire or audio-video. On the other hand, all of the methods are used to explore the participants’ experiences of different teaching approaches or their own achievement within a task; this strengthens the studies, since the investigations are completed with thoughts and clarifications from the participants. In the studies

and when expressing the strengths of both traditional and principled approaches towards language learning. This is a developed answer considering the ability of comparing two aspects of language teaching. This result can be due to the age of the participants, meaning that the ability to learn and comprehend for example grammatical rules is easier at a higher age.

4 Data and methods

This section will introduce the data and methods used for the study. First, the

participants are presented, followed by the choice of methods: observations and semi-structured interviews. Finally, the procedure of analysing the data is discussed, followed by the ethical considerations.

4.1 Participants

The participants were contacted with information about the aim of the study and the process of data collection, including the expected duration of the interviews and observations. The participants were at this time of year (spring 2019) experiencing a heavy workload and due to issues regarding schedules and time to set aside for the interviews and observations, the observations and interviews were done on different days. Four different teachers of English at four different upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden were chosen depending on location and personal contacts with the author; this type of sampling is known as a convenience sampling

(Dörnyei 2007:98-99). Table 1 below provides an overview of the information

regarding all of the participants in the study. The pseudonyms Thomas, Mary, Ann and Lisa are used to refer to each teacher and to guarantee their anonymity.

Table 1: An overview of the participants

Participants Gender Age Years of

experience

Other subjects

Thomas Male 28 6 History

Mary Female 45 10 Swedish

Ann Female 25 2 Psychology

The participants were selected based on their qualification to teach English at upper secondary level. All of the teachers had teaching licenses after finishing an academic teaching program at a university in Sweden. Mary and Ann were the two teachers who taught mostly English at their school. This was due to the scarcity of qualified teachers.

4.2 Observations

Table 2 below provides background information about the four lessons that were observed.

Table 2: Overview of the lessons observed

Duration Number of

pupils Number of observations Topic of the lesson Thomas,

English 5

60 min 14 1 Communicative

reading

comprehension

Mary, English 6 70 min 30 1 Communicative

reading task

Ann, English 5 60 min 28 1 Natural

phenomena

Lisa, English 6 90 min 25 1 Reading

comprehension: the 24/7 society Thomas’ lesson consisted of a class of pupils who were enrolled in different vocational programs with pupils from different language backgrounds such as Swedish, Arabic, Greek, Kurdish and Albanian. Mary´s lesson consisted of a class from the natural science program and also had pupils from different backgrounds. However, Mary was unaware of the pupils´ first language since she never asked the pupils and the

4.2.2 Data collection instrument

In order to answer the first research question as to how the teachers of English work communicatively with their pupils in the classroom an observation protocol was constructed and used as a guide when observing. The protocol is inspired by the protocol presented in Lightbown & Spada (2013:130) (Appendix B). The observations were used to gain information about whether and how communicative features were used in the classroom. The collective observed features are compiled and presented to provide an overview of the observed classrooms. All of the observations were

documented by note-taking. The classroom observations are used to provide an understanding of which CLT principles seemed to underpin each teacher´s classroom practice (Lightbown and Spada 2013:129-133). The observation scheme for this study was developed by Spada and Frölich (1995) for communicative orientation. The scheme is known as COLT, Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching

(Lightbown and Spada 2013:129-133).

COLT focuses on how language is produced and aspects such as error correction, how questions are asked and to what extent the pupils produce and use language communicatively. The categories used in the observation protocol for this study are related to the categories in the COLT scheme. The categories are used to document natural interaction in the classroom (Lightbown and Spada 2013:129-133).

The different features that are presented in Lightbown and Spada (2013:135) are: • errors • feedback on errors • genuine questions • display-questions • negotiation of meaning • metalinguistic comments

with the study in not providing as equivalent information as the features provided in Table 3, since they all were easy to document in the protocol during the observations. Table 3 gives a closer explanation to errors, negotiation of meaning, meta-language and use of L1 and, group/pair work used in the protocol.

Table 3: Explanation of the different features in the observation protocol (Lightbown & Spada 2013)

Errors Errors in language made by the pupil. When

the errors occur, the observer looks for how the teachers deal with them. An example of this can be corrective feedback (Lightbown & Spada 2013: 115). Errors can be divided into the categories: errors and mistakes. Errors are mistakes which the pupils cannot correct themselves. Mistakes are slips that they can correct themselves (Edge 1989: Chapter 2 cited in Harmer 2007:137) Negotiation of meaning To reach comprehension, the pupil and

teacher communicate and to comprehend language that is difficult (Lightbown & Spada 2013:114).

Meta-language When communicating with the pupil the

teacher can use grammatical terms to turn the pupil´s attention to a certain form. An example of this can be turning the pupil´s attention towards the plural form of the noun (Lightbown & Spada 2013:218).

Use of Swedish Translation into Swedish for the pupils with Swedish as their L1 or to encourage the other pupils to use their mother tongue. It can be used to explain meaning of

vocabulary that is perceived by the teacher to be too advanced for the pupils. This can be used as a resource for the teacher to make sure that the content is at an appropriate level in terms of comprehensibility, thus ensuring that all the pupils can engage in a focused interaction despite varying

proficiency among the pupils (Lightbown & Spada 2013: 32-33).

4.3 Interviews

Table 4 provides information regarding the setting and duration of the interviews.

Table 4: Information regarding the semi-structured interviews

Participant Setting Duration

Interview Thomas Classroom 24 min

Interview Mary Group room 35 min

Interview Ann Teacher´s office 29 min

Interview Lisa Teacher´s office 28 min

4.3.2 Data collection instrument

In order to gain information about the teachers´ perceptions of their communicative classroom, a data collection method in which the teachers had time to elaborate their thoughts was necessary. Interviews are an effective method to use in a small-scale study, when elaborating on the participants’ experience, views and perceptions. A semi-structured interview is a flexible instrument to collect data. The method is a hybrid between two extremes, unstructured and structured interviews (Denscombe 2017:269). An interview guide with pre-defined questions was used as an aid to stay focussed on the relevant topic in the study (see appendix D). However, English is not the language used in the interviews due to the fact that the author and the participants all lived in Sweden and spoke Swedish as their first language. Swedish is the language used for communication to prevent language breakdowns. The interviews were transcribed in their entirety and the quotes included in this paper were subsequently translated into English by the author of this paper. The interviewees’ original utterances in Swedish are presented in Appendix E.

4.4 Reliability, validity and the role of the researcher

One aspect that can enhance the validity of the observation scheme is that it has been used in previous studies to investigate similar topics, meaning that it has some degree of transferability. The procedures of the study are described in such a

transparent way that someone else could possibly replicate the procedures, i.e. use the same instruments (observation scheme and interview guide) with different groups of participants, even if the results will always be different since these are dependent on the individuality of both the researcher and the participants. The combination of

observations and interviews can be seen to strengthen the validity of this study. By using two methods such as observations and semi-structured interviews, one method can be seen as compensation for the other (Denscombe 2017:220). For example, when collecting data through observations regarding a certain phenomenon as for example negotiation of meaning, the observer gathers data that is important in recognising the existence of the phenomenon. On the other hand, the thoughts behind negotiating fail to be revealed. Using an interview as a complement to the observation can enable a deeper understanding of CLT in the classroom.

The observer´s role in the classroom is important, meaning that the observer´s presence in the classroom can affect the outcome of the classroom situation (Wray and Bloomer 2006:169). In classroom observations, the observer´s paradox is important to take in consideration in the sense of understanding that the presence of the observer in the classroom and the awareness among the participants regarding the subject being observed, may affect the behaviour of the participants (Wray and Bloomer 2006:12). An example of minimising this problem is to consider a non-invading position, providing a clear view of the classroom activities, at a distance from the rest of the class.

Conducting classroom observation demands an ability to become as invisible as possible to circumvent the presence of the observer (Denscombe 2017:303).

Similarly, for the interviews, the teachers may anticipate the answers you want to hear and respond accordingly in order to project a desired persona. The questions were formulated so as to allow the teachers to elaborate their responses freely and not feel constrained by any perceived prescriptive agenda or ideology of the interviewer.

Observations provide a full view of the used language since the observed language may give non-predicted behaviour such as errors or interaction between the participants. Furthermore, observations are flexible in the sense of offering a

and may cause a dilemma when the observer is going to analyse the data. To overcome this problem, the observation scheme (Spada & Frölich 1995) is used to reassure that the observer knows exactly what to look for in the classroom (Appendix B) (ibid 169).

In order to gather information about the teachers´ attitudes towards the

communicative classroom, interviews seemed as the most appropriate method to use. The positive aspects of using interviews are that the interviewer can guarantee that the participant has interpreted the question correctly by asking follow-up questions to eliminate misinterpretations. In for example questionnaires, the question can be misinterpreted and gather false information. The interview provides a positive setting and promotes a positive dialogue between the participant and interviewer

(Wray and Bloomer 2006:162).

On the other hand, the disadvantages of the interviews are the risk of allowing the interview to become unstructured and the discussion can develop into off-topic

discussions. Another disadvantage is the risk of the participants not knowing enough about the topic they are about to discuss. To circumvent this dilemma, the interviews followed an interview question sheet (Appendix D). Preparing the questions eliminated the risk of gathering information regarding non-related answers. The dilemma of the participants failing to possess the right knowledge regarding the communicative classroom was eliminated by preparing the participants in the introductory letter about the topic of the study. Furthermore, the observations, used in the initial stage, can guarantee that the dilemma was eliminated (Wray and Bloomer 2006:164).

In a qualitative study the method used in the research has to be clear for others to achieve the same results. The study is a small-scale study with only four participants at four different upper secondary schools in Sweden and this might have an impact on the generalizability of this study. The documentation and the clear procedures of the study is important for others to obtain similar results (Denscombe 2017:393-401).

4.5 Data analysis procedure

Dörnyei (Arnold et al. 2015). The interview material was analysed using a qualitative content analysis. The analysis procedure can be used for various types of texts and is a way of systematically process the content of a text. The procedure is seen as a simple and logical way and follows a certain pattern. A qualitative content analysis requires a careful procedure of identifying different sentences. All of the transcribed sentences were categorised and placed into a specific category. According to Denscombe (2017) the process requires a clear definition of the categories that are of interest for the study. The coding of the transcribed material required a focused attention to the material in the sense of matching the sentences with the categories. Furthermore, content analysis enhances the generalisability of this study since it quantifies the transcribed material and follows a simple procedure for other researchers to replicate this study

(Denscombe 2017:402).

4.6 Ethical considerations

Informed consent was provided by all four participants. Consent from pupils was not deemed necessary as the study´s focus was on classroom teaching and did not involve audio or video recording. The interviewer asked the teachers a question considering whether approval from the pupils would be required. All of the teachers confirmed that the consent was only needed from the teachers, since the study concerned their

classroom teaching.

4.7 Problems and limitations

This is a small-scale study and four teachers from four different municipalities

participated. The small-scale study might diminish the generalisability and validity of this research. However, the observations were beneficial and provided an overview of the phenomenon. In combination with the interviews the observed phenomenon was used as a guideline when answering the research questions. Furthermore, the four different municipalities in combination with the observations and interviews provide a broader picture of the observed communicative classroom rather than observing only one municipality. Additionally, the lack of time due to the teachers´ schedule had an impact on their availability. Time constraints and stress due to the preparation for the upcoming national tests was an issue. However, scheduling the occasions for the data collection eased the stress for the participants and provided good working conditions. The ideal procedure of data collection would have been that the interviews were conducted during the same day as the observations. Conducting several observations would have given a broader starting point for the study.

5 Results and analysis

This section presents the results from the observations and interviews. The observations are used to analyse research question 1: how do the teachers of English work

communicatively with their pupils in the classroom? The interviews are used to answer research question 2: what are the teachers´ perceptions of their communicative

classroom? The observation excerpts are labelled O + number and interview excerpts I + number.

5.1 Observations

5.1.1 Group/pair work

The theme of Thomas´ lesson was a communicative reading comprehension. The pupils were placed in a circle in the classroom. The pupils were asked to read the story that was provided and discuss different question and spontaneous thoughts that were related to the story. The aim of Mary´s lesson was to prepare the pupils for the coming national test. The pupils were placed in pairs to discuss the topic of an old national test, followed by a short reading task combined with questions. Towards the end of the lesson the pupils were provided with different cards and placed in small groups of four. The questions consisted of different topics relating to different reading strategies. In Ann´s lesson the task was to discuss and elaborate on different questions written on the board about natural phenomena. The pupils were encouraged to discuss different phenomena that were known to them and discuss the coming assignment. Finally, Lisa´s lesson was to prepare the pupils for an essay writing task the upcoming week. The task for the lesson was to discuss different essays that were written by other pupils. The teacher had prepared different questions in advance for discussion in English.

5.1.2 Teachers´ use of negotiation of meaning

The following section provides examples of how the teachers worked with negotiation of meaning in the classroom in dialogue with the pupils.

[O1]

T: “-Snoring, you know snoring?” P:” Eh?”

T: “Makes the sound of a snoring man” P: “-Ahh, yes! I know!”

(Thomas)

realness within the task by the way of using real-life connections as a resource, this is stressed by Dörnyei (2009:41) based on the personal significance principle.

[O2]

P:” What does this mean?” Points at the word

T: “Increase! It is a weird sentence but I think they are trying to say that airline industries are increasing.” T: “What is the opposite?”

P:” Decrease” (Mary)

Mary negotiates and makes meaning of the word by introducing the word in a context. The sequence shows that the teacher is trying to communicatively use language to make meaning of content. The pupil is offered the opportunity to develop knowledge regarding the lexical meaning in words by hearing the word communicatively and in context. The sequence indicates that teacher is trying to provide the pupil with an antonym to extend the pupil´s vocabulary.

[O3]

T: What can an informative essay mean? - Only describe in English, no Swedish. P: - It is an essay with more facts

T: -Good explanation! (Ann)

The teacher formulates a question, asking the pupils if they know what it is. The utterance shows that the pupils are encouraged to use the target language to make sense of the content by rephrasing. The negotiation of vocabulary provides the pupil with the meaning of the word. By only using the target-language when

communicating, the pupils are encouraged to use vocabulary in the correct way. For instance, using the vocabulary correctly in a sentence or using the correct form of the verb in a sentence improves the pupil´s language skills. According to the formulaic language principle, the ability to use expressions, collocations or words that hang together, is important when developing language skills. The pupil is encouraged to use words and sentences in English to explain (Dörnyei 2009:42).

5.1.3 Teachers´ use of error correction

The following sequences show how the teachers focus on the pupils´ errors. The pupil pronounced the word incorrectly when reading out loud in front of the class.

[O4]

P: Student reads: “entered”

T:” STOP, we do not pronounce the ed-ending when we read!” T: “ How do we pronounce this word?”

Thomas immediately stops the pupil reading and corrects the utterance. The correction of the utterance is a recast and an explicit correction of the provided utterance. This indicates that the pupil is provided with the opportunity to discover the rule for themselves. In the focus on form principle Thomas correction of the mispronounced word indicates explicit feedback such as a metalinguistic explanation. In Lisa´s classroom the feedback was used in a similar task.

[O5]

T: -What did you think about the topic? P: -It were interesting!

T: -It was interesting! P: It was interesting! (Lisa)

The verb is incorrectly used and the pupil is corrected by repeating the correct verb. However, in this task the teacher immediately corrects the pupil. By doing this, the teacher indicates two different alternatives for the choice of corrective feedback. The teacher´s idea of providing the pupil with the correct answer, can indicate that Lisa does not want to focus on the error due to the fact that the teacher knows that the pupil comprehends the subject and verb agreement structure and that the utterance is a mistake rather than an error. It can also indicate that the teacher knows that the pupil has difficulties in producing language in the communicative classroom and focusing on the error can risk silencing the pupil. The second of the two alternatives can be related to the personal significance principle that stresses the importance of knowing the pupils and providing a classroom for everyone, irrespective of their background. Mary is doing a similar correction as Lisa in the sequence below.

[O6]

P: The pupil reads from a card that is used for a task. P: Ethiopia light

T: Correction, The Ethiopian lights it is called (Mary)

The error correction is made by the teacher by reformulating the word correctly. The sequence above shows how Mary deals with errors in oral production in the classroom. In the example, the teacher uses error correction to explicitly show that the utterance is incorrect. In addition, the teacher provides the correct form.

The following sequences show examples of how the teachers uses and encourages Swedish in the classroom.

[O7]

T: The teacher reads from the paper: “-Bold letters alltså fetstil” (Thomas)

The pupil is reading the different alternatives that are connected to a task. In the

alternatives, a section is written in bold letters. The teacher explains the meaning of the word by using the word in Swedish. A similar utterance was noticed in Mary´s

classroom.

[O8]

T: “This pen is erasable, but it is en tuschpenna”.

T: “Use strategies when you are reading if you cannot find a word. For example, use a Swedish synonym for increase. Det är ju kanske att växa, then try to find an English word.”

(Mary)

The teacher encourages the pupil to use different strategies to make meaning. They are encouraged to use their mother tongue as a resource when working through texts.

[O9]

T: “What is a phenomenon? Explain it in English or säg det på svenska” P: “Norrsken! “

(Ann)

This could possibly be seen as a strategy used by the teacher to make sure the pupils understand the term. A Swedish word is used to exemplify what the English word phenomenon might mean.

5.1.5 Teachers’ use of meta-language

The following utterances show how the teacher uses meta-language when talking about different features of language such as grammatical structures. The use of meta-language was documented in two out of the four classrooms observed.

[O10]

T: - Inadequate, here we see inadequate. The in, in this word is a prefix. (Thomas)

[O11]

T: - Now reflect on the on the vocabulary or grammar you used. -Was it more vardagsspråk? I mean colloquial - Was it formal or informal? - Did you use a lot of slang?

(Mary)

Mary indicates that there are two different kinds of registers of English. This turns the pupil´s attention towards their produced language. By reflecting on the produced language, the pupil has the opportunity to develop their language skills further. 5.1.6 Overview of observations

This section provides an overview of all the features shown in the observations. The number of features are counted and represented below. Group and pair work are shown with a X, meaning that the lessons had sequences where the feature occurred.

Table 5: Overview of number of instances shown in the observations Feature: Number of instances Thomas Number of instances Mary Number of instances Ann Number of instances Lisa Total Negotiation of meaning 3 2 1 1 7 Error correction 2 1 1 1 5 Meta-language 2 1 - - 3 Use of Swedish 2 3 4 2 11 Total 9 7 6 4 26 Group-/pair-work X X X X

classroom (14) can affect the classroom climate and improve the atmosphere and encourage communicative activities. Lastly, the feature use of Swedish was the one single feature that was more apparent in Ann´s classroom, not Thomas´. The reason for this can be that Ann´s activities in the classroom were created as group activities and encouraged the pupils to engage in a discussion. An explanation for the results shown in Lisa´s and Mary´s classrooms can be the constellation within the group. When

preparing a group task the ability of knowing the pupils and preparing the groups can have an effect on the communication within the group. The dilemma of knowing each other or the contrary can have an impact on the dynamic in the group. The planning of the activity can also have an impact and elicit language breakdowns and provide a need for using other languages to comprehend the content and language within the task. The purpose of including the summarising table is only to give an overview.

5.2 Semi-structured interviews

This section shows the results from the interviews. The respondent´s answers in the interviews will be presented. The answers are categorized according to four thematic content categories: the teacher´s view on lesson planning, form-focused activities, corrective feedback and views on the use of the target language and mother tongue. The interviewees’ responses are subsequently interpreted against the backdrop of the

principles of the Principled Communicative Approach (Dörnyei 2009:267-301). 5.2.1 Teachers’ views on lesson planning

According to Dörnyei (2009) the teacher is seen as a guide in the classroom and should see the pupil as someone who can take care of their own learning, by engaging and building on for example their different backgrounds, thoughts and interests. By providing a classroom where genuine interactions can take place, in combination with using the resources that every pupil has at their disposal, the teachers automatically provide opportunities for learning (Arnold et al. 2015:13).

The following sequence stresses the importance of using various skills during the class and to create this, planning the lessons is important.

I1 [ ] that the pupils are active and that I am not the only one that is talking. They should be active, not only with me but with each other. [ ] I always try to plan around the four skills reading, writing, speaking and listening (Mary).

The four skills are a commonly used term in Swedish schools and in the syllabus (Skolverket 2011). The planning of different activities helps the pupil to actively use and develop more than one skill during a lesson and encourages them to use the

language in different situations. According to the language exposure principle prepared tasks such as pre-reading or preparing the pupils for a certain task will maximise

learning (Arnold et al.2015:105). The following answer also reveals that the teacher is preparing the pupils for a task with a certain theme (Arnold et al. 2015:105).

I2 [ ] I usually work with a certain theme through the course. I think it is easier for me to follow and it helps the pupils to get a deeper understanding of the content. [ ] if the pupils begin with a group task they can use that knowledge when writing a text and then use it for an oral presentation (Ann) By using the same theme throughout the term, the pupils have the opportunity to elaborate on both content and language that they are familiar with. Using the same theme can help the pupil become more independent and secure in the classroom, since they recognise certain words and structures. Both Ann and Lisa elaborated on the four skills.

The following sequence touches upon the ideas that are stressed in the personal significance principle, i.e. that a language classroom that is made authentic and provides the pupils with realness is vital for language learning. It also proves that Lisa´s language classroom is striving towards communicative language teaching, since the thought of achieving an environment of “real” communication and task is a fundamental thought within CLT (Arnold et al. 2015:13).

I3 [ ] I plan my lesson from the four skills reading, writing, listening and speaking. I always plan my lesson in detail so that the pupils get the most out of every lesson. I try to create lessons that are

authentic… [ ] I mean, that they use the language communicatively to solve for example a certain task or discuss different matters (Lisa).

Combining the four skills is relevant when planning lessons. The personal significance principle, firstly, stresses the importance of genuine learning and activating the pupils to believe that they own their learning. Mary discussed the idea of using different

I4 [ ] Not everyone is comfortable with speaking in front of a whole class. if this is the case, the number of situations of interaction, can be close to nothing. If you are divided into groups or pairs, you

automatically speak more English [ ] this is also at the stage of planning the lesson, I need to match the pupils with peers that I believe work well together (Mary).

The importance of getting to know the class was discussed as a strategy to use. Every pupil comes from different backgrounds. By engaging with the pupils, an understanding between pupil and teacher is built. Preparing interactions in which the pupils can use their resources are important

I5 [ ] Some of the pupils are good at communicating, but their English might not be that good. You can still be a good friend and be good at activating your friends by for example providing the right question in the right situation (Mary).

Different ethnic backgrounds and L1 can cause a dilemma in today´s classroom. Knowledge regarding language learning is essential for language teachers today. Examples of required knowledge in today´s classroom is knowledge regarding the important use of incorporation the pupil´s mother-tongue and using it as a resource in the classroom. According to Garcia (2009) translanguaging promotes the important knowledge of creating a classroom atmosphere that incorporates a view of acceptance regarding multicultural differences and languages. Translanguaging is about creating a classroom where it is accepted to use the mother-tongue as a resource. The pupils that have the same mother-tongue can engage and work parallel with several languages through for example group-work. By welcoming several languages in the classroom and using the languages parallel, the pupils can associate with the present task by for

example using pictures and actions related to previous experiences and school

background, these different strategies promote the learning a foreign language (García 2015: 24). Several pupils in today´s classroom are learning English as their third or fourth language. This forces the teacher to present the information and content in different ways such as connecting the content in the lesson to what the pupils know and make learning personally meaningful, the lesson prepares the pupil for learning. This is also stressed by Dörnyei in the personal significance principle (Arnold et al. 2015:13)

building on the pupil´s previous knowledge and adapting to every individual in the classroom.

hardly have enough language to communicate in Swedish, how can I expect them to know the words in English. They need to use their own language to refer to the knowledge (Mary).

Every individual is in need of an individualized approach towards language learning. The syllabus stipulates that the lesson should primarily use the target language for communication in the classroom. However, various levels and pupils not having been exposed to English at an early age is a dilemma and a barrier for the teacher to tackle. The pupils are encouraged to use their mother tongue as a resource for understanding content. The teacher can easily supervise the understanding of the content by asking questions related to the task. Firstly, the pupils are encouraged to compare the content with their previous experience or their mother tongue. Secondly, the pupils are

encouraged to use English to elaborate the problems and solutions of the task (Garcia 2009). To provide the pupils with this strategy, the teacher needs to understand the pupil´s background by asking questions related to for example their culture and

language (Svensson 2017). Thomas and Ann also mentioned that they try to take in the pupil´s preferences and backgrounds when planning a lesson.

I7 [ ] I jump from different topics depending on the class. I try to use topics that I know that they like and that they are familiar with (Thomas).

I8 [ ] like for example the natural phenomena, the pupils voted for this topic. Many of the pupils wanted this topic (Ann).

Conclusions drawn from the teacher´s perceptions on lesson planning is that they mention thematic content and skills practice through which the pupils are expected to develop their language capacity implicitly. However, there does not seem to be much focus on explicit knowledge such as a conscious problem solving regarding for example a specific grammatical feature in the English language in the teachers´ lesson planning. 5.2.2 Teachers´ views on form-focused activities

The use of grammar in today´s classroom is, according to Dörnyei´s (2009) second principle in the Principled Communicative Approach, a part of the explicit

communicative classroom (Arnold et al. 2015:33). The first sequences provide the teacher´s thoughts regarding grammar teaching.

I9 It is a part of the course and to be able to pass the courses at a higher level, you need to know the different grammatical structures in the language. To be able to say or write more advanced sentences in English, is dependent on how well they know grammar. [ ] grammar needs to be incorporated correctly in the process, but you cannot isolate a certain grammatical structure (Ann)

Ann is reluctant to teach grammar by focusing on specific grammatical structures during a lesson and discusses the dilemma of incorporating grammar in a form-focused

manner. Ann and Mary expressed that incorporating grammar can be done by for example highlighting different incorrect sentences produced by the pupils and

encouraging the pupils to correct the sentences. However, this exercise was sensitive for all of the pupils since they easily could trace who wrote each sentence. Thomas claimed that if the pupil wrote an incorrect sentence, the most effective approach was to give the pupil feedback one-to-one. On the other hand, several pupils were used to talking about grammatical errors, from learning Swedish. This created a deeper understanding among these pupils and demanded a broader knowledge from Thomas regarding grammatical rules. Furthermore, Lisa stated that working with a set of phrases or known sentences created an unconscious approach towards grammar such as memorising and

automatising different grammatical rules. As seen from the teacher´s views on grammar teaching they all stressed how important grammar teaching is. On the other hand, the dilemma in how to teach grammar is clearly shown since the teachers express that grammar is sensitive since there is a clear right or wrong answer and that teaching grammar demands a deeper knowledge from the teacher which in some cases is hard to master. The following sequence gives an example from Mary regarding the reluctant views on focusing on grammatical rules during a lesson. This was noticed in Mary´s classroom when answering the question: Is grammar important to incorporate during the lessons?

I10 [ ] Yes, I think so, but it is also quite hard. We don´t have grammar lessons as such. We more use texts and discuss them. When I went to school we had a certain part of the lesson that was only grammar. Today it is more used for the sake of using the language communicatively (Mary).

has changed through the years. They stressed the need for grammar, to become communicatively independent.

I11 But I prefer to use grammar in situations where the pupil can use it. You can use different sentences and improve them, but mostly you can give them an utterance to practice with each other. I can use a phrase or a sentence that you often see together with other words (Lisa).

In the Formulaic language principle this is stressed as part of the more modern

communicative approach. Lisa uses tasks with a set of grammatical rules for the pupil to learn what phrase or a sentence that are often seen together with other words.

I12 [ ] They might know every grammatical rule when it comes to irregular verbs. They have it memorised. When they are about to use it, they fail using the right form. At this level of language I feel that it is more important to make use of language (Ann).

The conclusion from the teacher´s perceptions on form-focused activities is that they have an ambivalent approach to form-focused activities, and these do not seem to take centre stage in their lesson planning. The view teaching for example grammar as a dated approach towards language teaching and that the more modern approach is focusing on form in a communicative task.

5.2.3 Teachers´ views on corrective feedback

Dörnyei describes different procedures that are important to create meaningful

communication in the principle known as the controlled practice. One of the important ideas in this principle is monitoring the pupil’s performance. The answers from the interviewees can be connected the controlled practice principle as appropriate feedback (Arnold et al 2015:51). The following sequence shows the teacher´s strategies when giving corrective feedback on pupil´s errors.

I13 [ ] I try to make a joint feedback in class. Like for instance my last task. The theme was in today´s society. Many of the pupils never used the apostrophe. That is a very unnecessary error. I went through it in front of the class and then gave them a few exercises to practice (Mary).

Mary described that the pupils in the class are at different levels of proficiency. If correction is used at every incorrect expression, this can lead to complete silence. Dörnyei (2009:289) also describes the importance of motivating the pupils during the task, for them to automatise the target language.

When correction or feedback is used, it is important to understand that language errors can affect the pupil in a negative way. Feelings and relationships within the class can create a stressful situation. However, the teachers expressed that it was hard to

determine if the lack of knowledge was due to time or stress. Answers regarding a more interactive task, based on noticing and correction are shown below.

I15 [ ] I take a little bit from everyone´s text and put together incorrect sentences. If there is someone that has a lot of errors, I just tell the pupils that I have made up some of the errors to bring in some extra structures in the text. I divide them into pairs or groups and they sit together and correct the sentences and in some cases even rewrite them [ ] sometimes I use mentimeter as an extra resource, they can in an anonymous way ask me questions on the board (Mary).

Mary´s answer in I15 shows that the teacher approached correction by means of

different strategies. For example, the utterance proves that the teacher notices the errors that are made and summarises them into sentences. The task pays attention to both functional and structural aspects. The use of Mentimeter also provides a variation within the task and makes the task creative. This is also mentioned by Dörnyei in the

controlled practice and seen as well used in motivational practices. Ann´s utterance can be compared to Mary´s one.

I16 [ ] I highlight with different colours in the pupil´s texts for them to focus on different features, for example spelling or grammar. I think it makes it easy for them to see how they need to develop their language. After this I pick different sentences or sometimes I make up sentences for them to correct. They correct in pairs and discuss different options. Some pupils think this is really stressful and they are afraid that it is their sentence. I want the language in the right context. I mean I want them to show how something is used so that the content becomes meaningful (Ann)

In conclusion, the interviews regarding corrective feedback showed that the teachers used different feedback techniques in the form of summarizing the pupil´s errors and used the errors as a task for development at a later stage. However, the teachers also stressed that they are reluctant to use feedback, considering that the relationship teacher-pupil is important and that feedback can create negative feelings.

5.2.4 The teachers´ views on use of the target language and the mother tongue The category known asthe focused interaction principle promotes the importance of providing opportunities for L2 interaction in the classroom. The following sequences are focused on the teacher´s thoughts regarding the use of the target language and why they in certain situations choose to use Swedish which was noted in all of the